Recycling company fined after workplace fatality

Liverpool based recycling company Centriforce Products Ltd was fined after a workplace fatality due to falling plastic bales.

Liverpool Crown Court fined Centriforce products £120,000 and ordered them to pay costs of £10,540.95 after a workplace fatality at their site in Derby Road, Liverpool. Worker Paul Andrews was crushed by waste plastic bales weighing over 500kg which were found to have been improperly secured and assessed after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), he is survived by his wife Claire and two daughters.

The court heard that on the day a fork lift truck (FLT) driver noticed one of the columns consisting of bales, stacked three high, had partially collapsed obstructing his path. He subsequently used the fork lift truck to straighten and stabilise the stack before continuing on his way.

Rohan Lye, HSE inspector, said: “This appalling incident could so easily have been prevented if Paul’s employer had acted to identify and manage the risks involved, and put a safe system of work in place. Their failure to do so has left Claire without her husband and two daughters without their father.”

“Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous work activities and prevent future tragedies.”

The investigation found that Centriforce Products had failed to store the bales in a way that would prevent collapse and failed to carry out an assessment to ensure the safety of workers in the presence of unstable stacks. Centriforce Products Limited of Errington Works, Derby Road, Bootle pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,540.95.

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